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Smallmouth bass fishing banned until June

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has halted spring smallmouth bass fishing for the second year in a row.

By STEPHANIE REIGHART Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
05/13/2013 06:45:36 AM EDT

Craig Brennan, right, hauls an 18-inch smallmouth bass out of the Susquehanna River Monday at Long Level while Austin Schmitt continues his search in this November 2010 file photo. (FILE PHOTO)

York, PA -

Over the past decade, the decline of one of the most prized freshwater sport-fish species -- the smallmouth bass -- has puzzled anglers and scientists.

Populations that once thrived throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed -- including the lower Susquehanna River -- have experienced fishkills and perplexing illnesses, according to a recent report from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The problems include lesions, blotchy skin, shorter lifespans and abnormal sexual development in which males grow eggs in their testes, said Harry Campbell, the foundation's Pennsylvania executive director.

A myriad of influences are coming together to threaten the smallmouth bass, Campbell said. Phosphorus and nitrogen pollution have been linked to spring algal blooms that create low-oxygen conditions that stress fish.

"These algae blooms occur when our smallmouth fry are most vulnerable to infection," said John Arway, executive director of the commission in a conference call hosted by the foundation.

With shorter lifespans for adults and juveniles not living to adulthood, the overall population is feared to be near collapse, he said.

The loss of this species will have serious environmental and economic impacts, Campbell said.

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Smallmouth bass fishing in Pennsylvania generates $166 million for local economies, supporting 1,300 jobs, according to data from the American Sportfishing Associations and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In the Susquehanna River, smallmouth bass populations have plummeted, with catch rates of adults falling 80 percent between 2001 and 2005, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Subsequent studies by the commission have found that populations have not recovered.

This decline prompted the state agency to impose emergency regulations that prohibited fishing for the species in much of the river from May 1 to June 15, 2012, and again this year.

The Bay Foundation and others petitioned the DEP to list the lower Susquehanna as impaired because of ongoing disease and decline of the smallmouth bass.

According to the report, the lower Susquehanna was deemed to have "insufficient water quality data to make an impairment determination."

Campbell and Arway said they will continue to push for investment in programs and policies that address the issues facing the smallmouth bass populations.

"Our fish are sick, our anglers are mad and my board and I, protectors of our fishery, are frustrated," said Arway. "We need Environmental Protection Agency leadership to drive the issues since it is a regional problem of national significance."

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